


Little Brother

by ihaventsleptyetits4amoops (themechanicsnightmare)



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24270883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themechanicsnightmare/pseuds/ihaventsleptyetits4amoops
Summary: After everything, Alexios is deeply touch-starved. Kassandra is working on it.
Relationships: Alexios & Kassandra (Assassin's Creed), Deimos & Kassandra (Assassin's Creed)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 136





	Little Brother

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MandoKain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MandoKain/gifts).



Kassandra isn't sure when she notices. She's not sure if she notices, or if it's just something she knows. It's not like they ever talk about it, but with the evidence presented to her she comes to the logical conclusion.

Alexios is deeply touch-starved. 

The signs are all there. He never seems to know what to do when Kassandra or Myrrine hugs him. Hearty back slaps from the rest of the crew, or Nikolaos's fatherly shoulder clasping have him tensing up, suppressing a flinch. The person he's most comfortable touching is Stentor, and that's because they only touch at all if they're wrestling. 

Violence is something Deimos knows well, and the transition from fighting for his life to sparring with his brother has been one of the easier ones Alexios has had to make so far.

The real proof of Kassandra's suspicions comes when he's sleeping. It's a rare occurrence of itself, both of them are prone to insomnia and restlessness it seems, not entirely unexpectedly. Still, on her worse nights if she's lucky he'll be sleeping and she can sit beside his bed and watch for a while. Watching over her little brother as he sleeps soothes that anxious, disbelieving part of her, the one that's convinced that if she closes her eyes this will all be a lie, that she'll wake up to her family shattered and herself alone again. Most nights she creeps away before he wakes. Some she falls asleep there and he says nothing of it. 

It's one of those nights that she first sees it. His brow furrows, expression twisting into discomfort as he sleeps. Hoping to soothe him, Kassandra reaches over to run her fingers through his hair. She isn't sure what she expects, maybe that it will wake him before the nightmare gets worse, but he leans into the touch. Alexios is completely dead to the world, of that Kassandra is sure, but his head presses into her hand a little like some of the nicer strays back on Kephallonia. His face smooths out and he settles. 

Kassandra stays there for the rest of the night and neither of them mention it in the morning. 

The pattern continues. In daylight, Alexios tenses up, shies away from physical contact. In his sleep, his subconscious takes over, seeking out the comfort his conscious mind still isn't willing to accept, and he leans into her touch like a plant reaching for the sun. Over time, careful stroking of his hair evolves into her baby brother all but plastered to her side. His weight is warm against her leg, his head resting beside her hip. He seems to sleep more soundly, wakes up looking better, more rested. If she's being honest, so does she. She shamelessly encourages it. After the life he's lived, she'll give her little brother whatever small comfort she can. But they still don't talk about it.

Slowly but surely, Alexios improves. He's still tense and uncomfortable, but growing less so each day. Kassandra doesn't quite realise how much better he's gotten until she returns from a week spent in Messenia and finds both her little brothers sitting on the floor, backs against the wall. Stentor is awake. Alexios is decidedly not, his head resting heavily on Stentor's shoulder. He appears to be holding one of Stentor's arms hostage, hand wrapped around his brother's elbow. For his part in the whole affair, Stentor looks somewhere between terrified, horrified and deeply uncomfortable. He doesn't move, though, even though he could. Kassandra gives him her best encouraging smile, weathering his repsonding glare. To preserve what little remains of Stentor's dignity, she doesn't tell her mother. 

They still don't talk about it, but eventually Alexios can hug Myrrine without flinching. Kassandra's going to call that a win.

**Author's Note:**

> I finished the game. I had feelings.


End file.
